Kenyan startup to launch Smart Jackets for motorcyclists

Kenyan startup CladLight is to launch its Smart Jackets into the market by the end of this year, looking to improve road safety through wearable technology.

CladLight was founded in November 2013, and has raised US$41,000 from the Nailab – where it was incubated – and a crowdfunding campaign.

CladLight’s Smart Jacket, which has just finished its piloting stage, uses wearable technology to make riding a motorcycle more safe. The jacket is equipped with signal transmitters displaying the direction in which a driver intends to turn on the back of the jacket when the bike’s indicators are used. It also has a GPS tracker, allowing owners to determine the vehicle’s location.

The Smart Jacket had been undergoing a pilot testing phase, which concluded last month, and Charles Muchene, CladLight chief executive officer (CEO), told Disrupt Africa the startup was now going to have more jackets manufactured with the aim of putting 500 into market by the end of this year.

Clad Light is planning on selling the jackets direct to motorcycle assembly plants, insurance companies and bike retail stores, with a focus on mass production.

“The major idea is to sell them in bulk, we want to penetrate the market,” Muchene said, adding CladLight was looking to enter other markets aside from Kenya in the near future.

“We have a high quality jacket that can scale across the world,” he said.